wearing a tie for non-specific reason

Perhaps its just aesthetics, but I always wonder if ties signal something else...

WHY do you boys wear ties?

Can you explain this? Am I attracted to 50's fathers? Schoolboys? Or merely smart dressers?

Psychologist to thread please.

The last ILE meet was midweek, so I turned up in my work clothes. Someone asked me if I had been in court that day, so I expect I don't look like a successful professional. This is fair enough, as I don't feel like one either.

"so nancy, has olympia made you a dyke now?"

For example, I like to wear heels sometimes to non-heel events. I am rather tall, so this is not a height issue. Heels, like ties, are not exactly comfortable. And yes, I like the way they look, but I also feel like its a discipline or experience and alters my day.

i used to wear ties all the time, i went to this terrible hippy alternative high school where there was this kind of granola mafia...wearing ties was my way of kind of pissing them all off. i also wore only navy blue for most of that time. it didn't really piss them off so much as they found me exotic and different, no doubt my frequent bathing also seemed strange and unusual to them. i find that red knit ties go well with navy shirts.

again, the idea of discipline, creating the helpful illusion that you've got some sort of control over this weird body-thing with noses and eyes and shit, pretty rad.

how do people feel about ascots?

personally, i think they're kind of a weird uncle in the tie family. they always remind me of the millionaire in gilligan's island, slicked back hair, double brested jacket with gold buttons...etc. i've been trying to flirt with a younger ascot look, but i'm not sure how things are working. advice?

I've seen that Raggett purple tie!

I think ties can be good, for going out and stuff, sometimes.

I would have erik dress me.

i wear a tie quite often. used to hate them, but i like a tie just to go out or whatever from time to time.

I watched Blackboard Jungle over the weekend and that teacher gentleman guy did not know how to tie a tie. I felt embarrassed for him.

This is a significant problem for me: I dress casually enough of the time that wearing a tie to work probably causes people to think I'm interviewing for other jobs. It also seems somewhat weird or frowned upon for men to dress at different levels of formality all the time -- e.g., wear a suit one day, a sweatshirt the next -- without having some sort of functional excuse for why; you just baffle people.

Oh for the days when the farmers worked ploughs in their waistcoats and ties.

^^ It should be obvious here that I am just not up to the challenge of being someone who dresses non-casually all the time, or at least not yet: that is something that requires transition time and investment and pretty much a whole new wardrobe. And even still, the tie is a significant marker on this!

pet peeve: guys on nights out in shirt and tie with JEANS?

jesus, how much does a pair of trousers cost anyway? you can even get skinny suit pants from topman if you wanna be a bit trendy and indie about it.

I've been known to change from my ugly burnt orange work-uniform tie to a loose tie of my own choosing for the sake of going out after work.

These days a pair of trousers may not cost more than jeans

They sometimes cost less!